It’s not over the moon, but the number of cows in U.S. dairy herds has jumped to a two-decade high. Combined with increased output per cow, estimated August 2016 U.S. milk production was up 1.9 percent compared to the same month a year earlier, according to USDA’s monthly milk production estimates.

If there’s a silver lining in declining U.S. dairy prices, it’s the closer relationship with global prices will make U.S. products more competitive on the export market.

From the folding seats of World Dairy Expo’s iconic Coliseum, spectators watch the procession of beautiful cows glide across the colored shavings as they compete for top honors in the international show.

If there were one word I could use to describe managing a farm with no communication, it would be “nightmare.” I've lived it, and it's like a terrible dream you can't wake up from. Employees don't understand what's expected of them and are too afraid to ask. A co-worker is doing something wrong, but they are not told, so they continue to do the job wrong.

America’s dairy farmers set a goal of empowering children to eat healthier and move more seven years ago. This is why they created – through their dairy checkoff – the school-based Fuel Up to Play 60 program in partnership with the NFL and with support from USDA.

It is common for three or four dairy calves to be born on the same day on a dairy farm, but not so common for three heifer calves to be born to the same cow. Ed Wittorff of Wittspride Dairy near Ava, Missouri, found himself surprised by a set of Brown Swiss heifer triplets on a hot, humid day at the end of August.

I’m a fairly pragmatic person, and I’ve learned to keep life simple. So when I told my husband that this month’s column was about “healthy harvest meal hacks,” he laughed and said, “‘Pizza Hut online ordering’ is only four words; how are you going to make that an entire column?”

USDA is seeking nominees to serve on the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board (NDB). Nomination deadline is Sept. 28.

A collaborative research and extension team, which includes faculty from Washington State University, University of Idaho, USDA ARS, University of Florida and the University of Missouri, will be offering a dairy cattle genomics workshop on Oct. 4 in Madison, Wisconsin.

The cows are out of the barn, but a court finally closed the door on public release of names and locations of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).